SwanR

I enjoyed catching up with this one while we ate our fish and chips this evening. Michael Portillo's wardrobe seems to have become his trade mark. The trains looked newer than the ones running down this end of the Greater Anglia network!! It was interesting to see the aerial view of Wroxham. I paused it there so that I could take a good look and figure out where everything was.

Welcome along Chris. Look forward to hearing how you get on with the bungalow and the boats. :)

I love the ferry to the Isle of Wight ... but maybe not at midnight in the middle of winter. Have a safe journey home yourselves.

Personally I would like to see these kind of discussions kept to the members' area. Really no need to put this kind of topic where any passer by can see it for their own amusement and entertainment.

Wow! The dedication of parents to the cause. Have a good day and a safe journey.

Yesterday we contributed to the many miles of chaos on the roads ... yes we were travelling home from a lovely Christmas away, like probably so many other people. Itinerary went vaguely like this: 09.00 Leave Filey ... with a tear in my eye because it's so beautiful but that's another story for another post somewhere else! 10.00 Arrive in Hull to collect the mother-in-law 11.15 Depart Hull 13.00 Arrive at lunch stop at the Little Chef at Costerworth on the A1 ... and by now we've seen the snow on the fields and had to very carefully negotiate all the slippy slidey slush in the car park given that my MIL is 98!!! It feels like transporting the Queen! 14.15 Leave the services and get back on the road ... long delays on the M11 meant that we travelled the A1 right down to the M25. 17.30 Arrive at Brentwood to drop mother-in-law off and unload all her luggage and settle her in. 18.15 Finally arrive home! We knew the traffic would be heavy but that was a very long and tiring journey. However we do count ourselves extremely fortunate that we seemed to take a path that was in the middle of chaos to the west in the form of gridlocked roads, snow and ice. And to the east there was clearly wind and rain and flooding. Whilst the A1 provided us with a route down the middle where the worst that we encountered was very slow traffic and very long queues in places. Now to get back to the shopping and the washing and those usual post-holiday blues. Have a great day everyone.

I did chuckle once when we passed Miles while out on a hire boat ... and he waved to us! There must be a heart behind that sometimes gruff and unshaven exterior! Merry Christmas to Miles wherever he might have spent this week.

You’ll have to try the resurrected Dancing on Ice in the new year!

Really enjoyed following this Jay and seeing all your photos. Have a lovely Christmas.

Merry Christmas to everyone here. This forum has certainly become one of the places where I like to look in every day ... several times a day!! Lol! And when you remember that we almost lost it ... well we all realised what this community means to us. If anyone is in touch still with Jonzo, please pass on best wishes to him and his family too. And special thanks to all the folk who stepped in to keep us afloat.

Lovely photos. The river is so still. It doesn't matter if it is cloudy and grey, there is still a beauty to the rivers and a serenity that you get nowhere else in our busy lives.

Fabulous photos, really enjoying your winter tale. :)

I agree about Christmas Jayfire. Hubby used to work shifts and cooking Christmas dinner for 12.30 so that he could be at work by 2pm was just not the same. We were very fortunate though that he was almost never on an early shift on Christmas Day so the children were able to open their presents in the morning rather than having to wait until Dad was home from work.

As it happens the colourful language is one of the many reasons I have never accompanied hubby to a football match! And I am one of those people who dislikes bad language and sees it as totally unnecessary. However one does have to seem to accept that it has become everyday language for some folk. There is always the "off" switch is one becomes too offended.

I've sometimes thought how interesting it would be to know when embarking on a voyage along the Chet whether there are any other boats down the river. It's such a lovely stretch if you time it right.

I had visions of you going round in an endless loop!

Loving all your photos. What an amazing day. That's definitely the best way to do the New Cut - on your own!

I've found O2 to be a good network around Suffolk and Norfolk including around the Broads.

Thanks folks. Working for me now as well.

Finished Day 6 over breakfast this morning!! Very interesting to hear how much he liked this boat and how different he thought it felt to the one he had earlier in the year. All I can say is ... it's ex-Swancraft! Hubby and I agreed how fortunate we were to happen to pick that yard and Swan Reflection as the first boat we took out several years ago now.

I wondered whether it might be an idea to take a look in advance in case it's the kind of site that requires a sign on or creating an account. But the link gives an error at the moment. I don't know whether that's just because it's not the appointed time yet and it will be seamlessly live on the day. Error-Report: No such file or directory Error-Code: 2002

I think his style is changing slightly now that he is gaining in confidence. We were out the same week and saw him a couple of times so it's been interesting to see ourselves moored up on his footage! We're having to watch each video in two or three parts as they are so long. But we're up to the boat review towards the end of day 6 and really keen to hear what he has to say about Swan Radiance given that so far he seems to be really enjoying being aboard.

More beautiful photos. What amazing blue skies you get at this time of year.

It's at times like this that we need a few more options of how to react to a post. I would have used "Wow" for sure if it was there. Sounds like an appalling way to be treated. You've been brave enough to follow your dreams and take this on. And that should be respected, no matter what. Good luck with your continued journey and I for one will keep reading with interest.

I hope that Robin isn't planning on making his grand entrance on Independence that week!